President Obama Nominates Four to the United States District Court

WASHINGTON – Today, President Obama nominated Margo Kitsy Brodie, Jesse M. Furman, Susie Morgan, and Mary Elizabeth Phillips to seats on the United States District Court.
 
“Throughout their careers these individuals have shown a dedication to justice,” said President Obama. “I am proud to nominate them to serve the American people from the district court bench.”

Margo Kitsy Brodie:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
Margo Kitsy Brodie has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the Eastern District of New York since 1999.  She currently serves as Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division and previously served as Counselor to the Criminal Division from 2009 to 2010, Chief of the General Crimes Section from 2007 to 2009, and Deputy Chief of the General Crimes Section from 2006 to 2007.  Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Brodie worked at the law firm of Carter, Ledyard & Millburn from 1994 to 1999 and at the New York City Law Department from 1991 to 1994.  She received her J.D. in 1991 from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and her B.A. magna cum laude in 1988 from St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York.

Jesse M. Furman:  Nominee for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Jesse M. Furman has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York since 2004, where he has served as Deputy Chief Appellate Attorney since 2009.  From 2007 to 2009, Furman was detailed to the Office of the Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice, where he served as Counselor to the Attorney General.  Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Furman worked at the law firm of Wiggin & Dana from 2000 to 2002 and again from 2003 to 2004.  From 2002 to 2003, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable David H. Souter of the Supreme Court of the United States; from 1999 to 2000, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable José A. Cabranes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and from 1998 to 1999, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Michael B. Mukasey of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  Furman received his J.D. in 1998 from Yale Law School and his B.A. summa cum laude in 1994 from Harvard University.  From 1994 to 1995, Furman was a Henry Fellow at Oxford University. 

Susie Morgan: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
Susie Morgan is a commercial litigation partner at the New Orleans law firm of Phelps Dunbar LLP, where she has worked since 2005 and has been a partner since 2009.  Previously, Morgan worked for 24 years at the law firm of Wiener, Weiss & Madison APC in Shreveport, where she joined as an associate in 1981 and became a partner in 1985.  She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Henry A. Politz of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1980 to 1981.  Morgan received her J.D. in 1980 from Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center and both her M.A. in 1976 and B.A. in 1974 from Northeast Louisiana University (now known as the University of Louisiana at Monroe).

Mary Elizabeth Phillips: Nominee for the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Mary Elizabeth Phillips is the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, a position she has held since 2009.  She previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the same district from 2008 to 2009.  Previously, Phillips worked at the law firm of Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson & Gorny from 2001 to 2008. During this time, Phillips also served as a court-appointed special prosecutor for the Circuit Court in Jackson County, Missouri.  Phillips served as an Assistant Prosecutor with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office from 1997 to 2001. She received her J.D. in 1996 from the University of Missouri Law School and both her M.A. in 1992 and B.A. in 1991 from the University of Chicago.